The Worst Job in History?

[VeloClone]

You could also make the case for milliner and blacksmith as on the list for worst jobs.

Milliner because they would use mercury in the felting of hats and would inhale mercury vapors in the steaming process so they almost inevitably suffered from mercury poisoning and would have a variety of terrible symptoms including hatters madness which is why there is a "mad hatter" in Alice in Wonderland.

Blacksmiths worked in a tough environment doing backbreaking work usually exposed to the elements. The heat in the summer was immense working alongside the forge. In addition the anvil was generally never buffered so the ringing sound of striking it worked as a kind advertisement. Anyone arriving at a town needing blacksmith services could just follow their ears to find one. Nobody wanted to be the smith that was quieter than the rest because that meant losing business. What that did mean was premature and often profound deafness.

 

[VeloClone]

You don't think calling your private secretary groom of the stool is weird?

Sure, but I don't think they had anything to do with the toilet or the King's ass in the latter 19th Century either.

 

[matclone]

I mean being a slave at any point in any country probably takes the cake.

Still thinking about that position of Groom of the Stool, at first, I thought you wrote "taking the cake."

 

[Cy Hard]

Can't believe no one has mentioned the poor guy with mop and bucket at the adult arcades.

 

[carvers4math]

So many options. Walking beans was bad. Cocktail waitress was horrifying. Any waitress job that included cleaning bathrooms was revolting. Do men try to hit the ceiling when they pee?

 

[Cyched]

Witchcraft was still illegal in Britain until 1951.

You laugh, but then you wake up the next day and Voldemort is wreaking havoc on your country.

 

[matclone]

I thought walking beans was harder than detasseling corn, but neither one was a walk in the park.

When I think of crappy jobs, I think of the guys who have to empty the grease vats that sit parked behind restaurants--or the guys laying asphalt on highways

 

[matclone]

Do men try to hit the ceiling when they pee?

No, just everything else.

 

[sdclone]

I was a hot tar roofer once. Yeah I remember that day.

 

[BCClone]

So many options. Walking beans was bad. Cocktail waitress was horrifying. Any waitress job that included cleaning bathrooms was revolting. Do men try to hit the ceiling when they pee?

Had a gf in college who said women’s bathrooms were the worst. She said that I could never imagine what girls did with their hygiene products after they were done. I never asked.

 

[carvers4math]

Had a gf in college who said women’s bathrooms were the worst. She said that I could never imagine what girls did with their hygiene products after they were done. I never asked.

They were always revolting in the showers at the pool when I lifeguarded. Also diapers. Most restaurants, it’s ok as long as you empty the bins frequently.

 

[VeloClone]

Had a gf in college who said women’s bathrooms were the worst. She said that I could never imagine what girls did with their hygiene products after they were done. I never asked.

I've had a job where I had to access women's restrooms as well as men's rooms after events. Men have no corner on the leaving the room a nasty mess market. I was floored when I started at how many women don't bother to flush - even after dropping a nasty deuce.

 

[Sigmapolis]

You laugh, but then you wake up the next day and Voldemort is wreaking havoc on your country.

The funny thing was it wasn't illegal to be a witch.

It was illegal to claim you were a witch when you weren't. If you could prove you were a witch then you were "good." And it was illegal to use witchcraft in "devious" or harmful ways on others.

Making your ex-boyfriend impotent? Off to the gaol with you.

Removing your mother-in-law's cellulite? You're good!

 

[VeloClone]

I thought walking beans was harder than detasseling corn, but neither one was a walk in the park.

Working as a kid on a high 90s day mowing hay. Working in the sun baling it is grueling, but mowing the hay in a hay mow that is so dusty you can hardly see the far wall, with no air movement and is probably around 120 degrees is incredible. Luckily we had a short break to get out of the mow between hay racks.

Then the next day the farmer who was paying us crap wanted us to come back and restack it all because he didn't like the way we stacked it. He said he wasn't going to pay us unless we did. My older brother collected for us.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I worked on a hog farm for a summer during college. One day I was in the yearling pen, the walls were moving with flys. You were basically breathing them they were so thick. The smell of manure thick from below the iron grates over the troughs. I'm pretty sure that was the worst job in history.

 

[NorthCyd]

Can't believe no one has mentioned the poor guy with mop and bucket at the adult arcades.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

If you thought that was bad @VeloClone imagine the same image except the walls are moving with maggots. The hogs chewing at your pant legs and shoes. Urinating on each other almost delightfully. I hate hogs so much.

 

[BCClone]

I worked on a hog farm for a summer during college. One day I was in the yearling pen, the walls were moving with flys. You were basically breathing them they were so thick. The smell of manure thick from below the iron grates over the troughs. I'm pretty sure that was the worst job in history.

Yearlings? You mean like sows?

 

[Cyclonsin]

I've had a job where I had to access women's restrooms as well as men's rooms after events. Men have no corner on the leaving the room a nasty mess market. I was floored when I started at how many women don't bother to flush - even after dropping a nasty deuce.

I can corroborate. Worked as a custodian for ISU athletics while I was in school and the women's restrooms were ALWAYS the more disgusting and took more time to clean. There were some straight horror shows in there.

 

[SaraV]

The funny thing was it wasn't illegal to be a witch.

It was illegal to claim you were a witch when you weren't. If you could prove you were a witch then you were "good." And it was illegal to use witchcraft in "devious" or harmful ways on others.

Making your ex-boyfriend impotent? Off to the gaol with you.

Removing your mother-in-law's cellulite? You're good!